Wal-Mart asks employees to donate food to their coworkers for Thanksgiving
Many note that such acts of kindness would not be necessary if Wal-Mart paid a living wage

A photo showing a food drive run by and for employees at a Cleveland-area Wal-Mart has sparked outrage and intensified the ongoing debate over the large retailer’s low wages.

According to a report in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Wal-Mart in question featured two bins in the employees-only section along with a sign that read, “Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.”

Kory Lundberg, a Wal-Mart spokesperson, defended the food drive, claiming it was a sign that Wal-Mart employees stick together. “It is for associates who have had some hardships come up,” he said. “Maybe their spouse lost a job.*This is part of the company’s culture to rally around associates and take care of them when they face extreme hardships.”

But not everyone took such a rosy view of the situation. “That captures Walmart right there,” Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University’s labor school, told the Plain Dealer. “Walmart is setting up bins because its employees don’t make enough to feed themselves and their families.”

Lundberg said holding the food drive at the Canton Walmart was decided at the store level. However, the effort could be considered in line with what happens company-wide. The Associates in Critical Need Trust is funded by Walmart employee contributions that can be given through payroll deduction. He said employees can receive grants up to $1,500 to address hardships they may encounter, including homelessness, serious medical illnesses and major repairs to primary vehicles. Since 2001, grants totaling $80 million have been made.

But an employee at the Canton store wasn’t feeling that Walmart was looking out for her when she went to her locker more than two weeks ago and discovered the food drive containers. To her, the gesture was proof the company acknowledged many of its employees were struggling, but also proof it was not willing to substantively address their plight.

The employee said she didn’t want to use her name for fear of being fired. In a dozen years working at the company, she had never seen a food drive for employees, which she described as “demoralizing” and “kind of depressing”. The employee took photos of the bins, and sent them to the Organization United for Respect at Walmart, or*OUR Walmart,*the group of associates holding the strikes in Cincinnati and Dayton.

Vanessa Ferreira, an OUR Walmart organizer, said she “flipped out” when she first saw the photos taken by the Canton worker.

“Why would a company do that?” she said. “The company needs to stand up and give them their 40 hours and a living wage, so they don’t have to worry about whether they can afford Thanksgiving.”

It's not the responsibility of a corporation to pay their GED educated part time employees a hefty salary. Due to corporate policy they're not working even 40 hours, so there is plenty of time left in the day to take advantage of their local community college or learning annex to become certified in a more lucrative field of employment.

One Wal-Mart store in Ohio is collecting canned food to help its workers feed their families a Thanksgiving dinner.

"Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner," a sign above two bins located near the store's backroom reads, according to photos circulated by the union-backed group OUR Walmart.

The group has been organizing Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)worker protests since last year.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said that particular store has held similar food donation drives for several years. The food supports workers who are facing "an unforeseen hardship," such as a spouse losing a job. Some of the food collected last year went to a mother whose child support benefits had stopped, so it helped provide her children a holiday meal, he said.

"I spoke to workers at the store today and they said that they're going to continue to look after their folks who have realized a hardship recently," Lundberg said.

He wasn't aware of similar drives at any of its 4,000-plus stores nationwide, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if they were.

The food drive plays into claims that Wal-Mart does not pay its workers a living wage.

In September, Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., said that less than half of the company's U.S. employees make more than $25,000 per year. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $23, 500.

A few months earlier, a report released by Congressional Democrats showed that the cost of these low wages are transferred to taxpayers, since employees then rely on public assistance programs. The report, put out by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, estimated that one Wal-Mart supercenter alone employing 300 workers could cost taxpayers at least $904,000 annually.

Low wages have sparked a spate of protests over the last year, wherein Wal-Mart workers have called for better pay, more hours and the right to speak out without retaliation. The protests kicked off last year around Black Friday. Earlier this month, three current and two former Wal-Mart workers were arrested while picketing outside of a Los Angeles store.

The particular focus on Wal-Mart's Thanksgiving drive comes just weeks before one million workers are expected to work over the holiday weekend. The stores will open earlier than ever before, beginning at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

The retailer said it would give workers a holiday meal, extra pay and 25% off of an entire purchase in order to combat the backlash that retailers were ruining Thanksgiving for their employees.

Wal-Mart also held a series of town halls across the country on Monday, where they surprised 350 workers with promotions. The company said it's on track to promote 160,000 workers this year, including more than 25,000 between November and the end of January.

But OUR Walmart said that's not enough. Organizers held a call Monday afternoon announcing it's mobilizing workers and community groups to protest once again on Black Friday.

Heh, we can sit here and talk shit about uneducated folks all we want. Fact is, you all want someone to flip those burgers for you, and as long as we continue hearing about record breaking profits year after year followed by wage earning decreases by these large corporations, at some point the rubber will meet the mat and folks will just say **** it, what's the point? Wait until you see the welfare line then. Then instead of listening to people who "never went out and bettered themselves" complain, they'll be listening to you complain. And they'll have a lot more time to do it too.

One Wal-Mart store in Ohio is collecting canned food to help its workers feed their families a Thanksgiving dinner.

"Please donate food items here so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner," a sign above two bins located near the store's backroom reads, according to photos circulated by the union-backed group OUR Walmart.

The group has been organizing Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500)worker protests since last year.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said that particular store has held similar food donation drives for several years. The food supports workers who are facing "an unforeseen hardship," such as a spouse losing a job. Some of the food collected last year went to a mother whose child support benefits had stopped, so it helped provide her children a holiday meal, he said.

"I spoke to workers at the store today and they said that they're going to continue to look after their folks who have realized a hardship recently," Lundberg said.

He wasn't aware of similar drives at any of its 4,000-plus stores nationwide, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if they were.

The food drive plays into claims that Wal-Mart does not pay its workers a living wage.

In September, Bill Simon, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart U.S., said that less than half of the company's U.S. employees make more than $25,000 per year. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $23, 500.

A few months earlier, a report released by Congressional Democrats showed that the cost of these low wages are transferred to taxpayers, since employees then rely on public assistance programs. The report, put out by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, estimated that one Wal-Mart supercenter alone employing 300 workers could cost taxpayers at least $904,000 annually.

Low wages have sparked a spate of protests over the last year, wherein Wal-Mart workers have called for better pay, more hours and the right to speak out without retaliation. The protests kicked off last year around Black Friday. Earlier this month, three current and two former Wal-Mart workers were arrested while picketing outside of a Los Angeles store.

The particular focus on Wal-Mart's Thanksgiving drive comes just weeks before one million workers are expected to work over the holiday weekend. The stores will open earlier than ever before, beginning at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving.

The retailer said it would give workers a holiday meal, extra pay and 25% off of an entire purchase in order to combat the backlash that retailers were ruining Thanksgiving for their employees.

Wal-Mart also held a series of town halls across the country on Monday, where they surprised 350 workers with promotions. The company said it's on track to promote 160,000 workers this year, including more than 25,000 between November and the end of January.

But OUR Walmart said that's not enough. Organizers held a call Monday afternoon announcing it's mobilizing workers and community groups to protest once again on Black Friday.